Klinsmann Names 22-Player Roster for First Match of 2018 FIFA World Cup Cycle

NewsAug 28, 2014

USA Takes the Field for First Time Since Reaching Round of 16 in 2014 FIFA World Cup; NBC Sports Network and UniMas will Broadcast Live on Sept. 3 at 2:15 p.m. ET

CHICAGO (Aug. 28, 2014) — U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has called 22 players into camp for the upcoming friendly against the Czech
Republic on Sept. 3 in Prague, the USA’s first game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup cycle. Kickoff for the first meeting between the teams on Czech soil is set
for 2:15 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network and UniMas. Fans can also follow on Twitter @ussoccer.

“We look at this as the start of our project towards Russia in 2018, and in this first step we get to look at many of our talented young players based in
Europe,” said Klinsmann. “We have some great youngsters coming through the ranks that are starting to break through with their clubs teams and are ready to
challenge for spots on the Senior Team, and even most of our World Cup veterans from Brazil on this roster will be coming into the prime of their careers
in the next four years, so this is an exciting opportunity.”

The match is the first in the new cycle, and Klinsmann is taking the opportunity to look at young talent. Of the 22 players coming to Prague, 15 are age 24
or younger. There are 11 players with 10 caps or less, and six looking to make their debut for the Senior National Team.

A total of 10 players from the USA’s run to the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup are on the roster. Fabian Johnson started all four matches in
Brazil, while Alejandro Bedoya appeared in every game and started three. Hertha Berlin defender John Brooks scored the game-winning goal against Ghana, and
19-year-old Julian Green pulled the U.S. within one goal of Belgium when he scored in the second extra time of the 2-1 defeat.

Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore is the leading capwinner on the roster with 71 appearances. The next closest is FC Nantes midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, who has earned 32 caps.

World Cup goalkeepers Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando are headed to the Czech Republic, each sporting impressive records in a National Team uniform. Guzan has recorded nine shutouts in 17 career starts, with six of those clean sheets earned in World Cup qualifiers. Rimando has never lost a game for the Senior National Team, posting a near-perfect 10-0-1 record.

Timmy Chandler and Fabian Johnson enter camp having started the season with new Bundesliga clubs. Chandler moved from Nurnberg to his hometown club Eintracht Frankfurt, while Fabian Johnson ended a successful spell at Hoffenheim with a jump to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Joe Corona made the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Four players on the roster are based in North America: Rimando - who is the sole representative of MLS – Club Tijuana teammates Corona and Greg Garza, and Puebla defender Michael Orozco.

Ingolstadt midfielder Alfredo Morales has helped his side to a solid start, appearing in the first XI in all three games and scoring the opening goal of the campaign. Born in Germany to Peruvian parents, he has been deployed as a holding midfielder and also in defense.

1860 Munich striker Bobby Wood has started all three matches to start the 2. Bundesliga season. The 21-year-old native of Hawaii and former Irvine Strikers forward made his Senior National Team debut in the 4-3 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2013.

There are four U.S. Soccer Development Academy alumni on the roster: Corona, Joe Gyau, Emerson Hyndman and Jordan Morris.

Morris, who scored the game-winner for the U-23 MNT against Bahamas last month, was named the 2012-13 Development Academy Player of the Year for the U-17/18 age group while playing for the Seattle Sounders FC Academy. He is the first active college player to be included on a roster under Klinsmann.

Rubio Rubin signed with Utrecht in July. The U-17 Residency alum was voted the 2012 U.S. Soccer Youth Male Athlete of the Year.

Gyau spent three semesters in the U-17 Residency program. His father Philip earned six caps with the U.S. MNT from 1989-91.

Southampton goalkeeper Cody Cropper started all three matches for the U.S. at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. Cropper participated in the MNT training camp in Stanford ahead of the team’s departure for the World Cup in Brazil.

Emerson Hyndman is the youngest player on the roster, the 18-year-old having begun the League Championship campaign as a starter for Fulham. The grandson of former FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman was a part of the U-17 Men’s National Team and signed his first contract with Fulham in 2013, scoring three goals in its run to the FA Youth Cup final.